Sockets expensive?

I

imzjustplayin

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 24, 2006
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I noticed that in the earlier days of computing, many more things were socketed, however this trend appears to be on the decline. Does it really cost more to socket components? How much better is using BGA over a socketed component?
 
You socket that which you will replace. Sockets are less reliable - corrosion, chips working loose etc. If the chip is permanent, there's no point in using a socket.
 
I notice this also. BIOS chips in most newer motherboards are not socketed. I guess the MB Manfactuarer wants you to RMA it or buy a new one if you mess up your BIOS in a bad BIOS flash
 
Format _C: said:
I notice this also. BIOS chips in most newer motherboards are not socketed. I guess the MB Manfactuarer wants you to RMA it or buy a new one if you mess up your BIOS in a bad BIOS flash
Click to expand...

Newer boards are coming with serial flash devices for the BIOS now. But if you look around on the board you'll see a 6 or 10 pin "SPI" header. That SPI header will allow you to reprogram the BIOS in case of a bad flash. But the programmers are expensive, and the DIY kinds don't currently have software that support the large flash devices.
 
ryan_975 said:
Newer boards are coming with serial flash devices for the BIOS now. But if you look around on the board you'll see a 6 or 10 pin "SPI" header. That SPI header will allow you to reprogram the BIOS in case of a bad flash. But the programmers are expensive, and the DIY kinds don't currently have software that support the large flash devices.
Click to expand...
Is that the SMBUS header?
 
ryan_975 said:
It's possible that they mislabled it. It should be marked SPI, ISP, or ICSP. It'd be a 2x5 or 2x3 pin header.
Click to expand...

Is this on all motherboards or only on recent motherboards? I have a failed bios on a 10 year old laptop and would like to reflash it but I'm not sure how since I can't get it to do anything.
Are you sure this is not just for programming microcontrollers instead of actual motherboards?
 
imzjustplayin said:
Is this on all motherboards or only on recent motherboards? I have a failed bios on a 10 year old laptop and would like to reflash it but I'm not sure how since I can't get it to do anything.
Are you sure this is not just for programming microcontrollers instead of actual motherboards?
Click to expand...

It's just on newer motherboards. My Dell 530 has it, but the pins for the header aren't soldered in. I've read that Asus seems to be using it quite a bit as well.

Now SPI has been used for a long time for programming the firmware into smaller microcontrollers.
 
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